11 May - Brandon to Fort Frances - Day 7 of TCE

The days are getting longer with each passing day. Last night before I turned in, after 9 pm, the sky still had light in them. This morning the rising sun could be spied as early as 5 am! With over 650 km to be done in the day it had to be a 7 am start. The motel was maintained very well and is certainly recommended for those who plan a stopover in Brandon. The newly renovated rooms, the lobby and the living cum dining area are plush and the owners are eager to have their guests enjoy the facility. In the living area a bible was kept open with the reading of Psalm 91, one that I do every day. The continental breakfast offered by the motel was more than adequate for the early start. Besides three types of cereals and milk, there was bread with accompaniments, yogurt, fruit cuts, muffins, cookies and granola bars. The healthy mix filled me up for the beginning of the day.

I chose the route to Fort Frances via Kenora on the TCH. The shortest route to Fort Frances is via the US! After presenting the key at the reception and thanking the hosts for the excellent hospitality I eased on to the TCH 1E. The going was good and I took the first stop at the outskirts of Winnipeg after almost 200 km, as fuel was cheap. The other reason for fuel stops is to make use of the toilet facilities that gas stations have, which are really good. The girl at the counter – no surprise that she was a Punjabi – told me that I could pay after filling the tank when I told her that I did not know how many litres would be required to tank up. This is a departure from the norm, which is pre-pay.

The stop in Winnipeg did not cost much time. The landscape right through to the border of Manitoba was similar – undulating grasslands with many farms being readied for the ensuing sowing season. Heavy farm equipment could be seen on the road as well. Mechanisation in farming has undergone a revolution. The vast tracts of land owned by a farmer are attended to with very little external help, which I am sure is frightfully expensive. Possibly, it is mechanisation that has continued to support agriculture as a source of livelihood in these parts, boosted by economies of scale, much unlike the situation in India, where fragmented land holdings make such farming methods unviable.

Ahead of the border of Ontario the landscape changed. Roads were cut through rocks and trees and vegetation were greener – indicating a more temperate climate. Suddenly the roads went from being grid separated four lanes to single carriageways. While the former afforded 110 kph the latter had a maximum speed of 90 kph. Besides, most of the road from Kenora to Fort Frances had long stretches of 60 and 80 kph. I presumed that it was because of the single carriageway and that the vast lands were unfenced. This gave rise to animal hits. Many carcasses could be seen beside the road. However, the snail’s pace was frustrating. I had got used to motoring at 110 kph and 80 kph was snail’s pace. How quickly one gets spoiled!

Kenora is a beautiful town on the Lake of the Woods, the vast water body that lends charm to the picturesque town with a population of about 1000 people. The town was earlier called Rat Portage, which was a French trading post that later went to the British. I stopped briefly at the Shell outlet for a couple of bars of Snickers and use of the toilet facility.

The slogan of Ontario province is “Yours to Discover” and it is on every license plate of vehicles registered in the province. Despite the sparse traffic on the road through forest lands to Fort Frances motorists maintained speed limits and Ontario looked to have extremely high fines for violations. Surveillance using cameras enforce traffic restrictions. Right from Victoria to Fort Frances I did not observe any accidents involving road vehicles even though the speed permitted was high. I am sure that this could be put down to the three factors of excellent infrastructure, strict enforcement and disciplined driving.

My jaws dropped when I turned into the avenue that housed the Bayview motel, where I had made reservation for the night. From the map I had known that just a river separated the town from the territory of USA. But, even then, I was not prepared for what I saw. The Motel was bang on the Rainy Lake, which was the boundary of the two countries. Jamie Pryde, the young owner of the brand new facility, told me that more than half the waters were in Canadian territory. When I remarked that people could very easily swim across to the US he cautioned that the strong undercurrents prevented such efforts and, “In any case”, he asked, “who wants to go to the US?” He told me that the season was already on and he had full booking for the coming weeks with folks from across the border coming for fishing into town and construction activity having resumed. The recently acquired and renovated property with 29 rooms have breath-taking views of the Lake, where I spent a lot of time later in the evening, working on my laptop and sipping a drink. Jamie also upgraded me into a commodious room with excellent facilities.

Jamie had suggested a walk in the evening after I had put the luggage in the room. The Sun shone bright but the cool breeze made me cling on to my warm outer wear. There were a couple of landings on the other side of the water with US Customs boards prominently displayed. The city was International Falls, Minnesota. Jamie had told me that I could go across a bridge to the US by just presenting the passport to visit the Smokey Bear Park. I decided to give that a miss to avoid any delays. The walk along the waterway was truly heavenly. Along the pathway were dispensers with bags to collect dog poop. Owners were expected to clean up after their pets. One of the must see attractions – there were not many anyway – is the 100 feet lookout tower. When I got to it I found that it was locked for the season. The logging tug Hallet is another attraction on the shore. The tug had been a workhorse during its heydays carting wood to the mills in the locality. The long walk took me to the Safeways outlet from where I bought grocery and headed back to the motel. It had been a long walk. I decided to relax by the lake for a while before a noodles dinner. The heat and eat dinner gave me more time to attend to what I wanted to.

After dinner I drove to the Point Park, which is on the shores of Rainy Lake and is a favourite with campers, anglers and sunbathers. There I saw a quaint old railway bridge and got heavenly views of the setting Sun. and, along came a large freight train of the Canadian Railways. The freight cars were too numerous to count, may have been more than 100, I presumed. That wound up my activities in this beautiful town and I slept peacefully watching the wind rocking the lake to sleep from the large windows in the room.